Friday, March 22, 2013

Just another record request that got buried and I unfortunately just never got to it. It's stupid because a few months back I came across them on bandcamp journey and that's when I caught Black Mask's demo. Then I checked my inbox on a hunch and bam — my inattentiveness laid bare. Anyway I've been spinning it pretty regularly since then. Black Mask are a four piece hardcore unit from Pennsylvania with just this six song demo to their name, but I suspect that they'll be pretty busy in the next little while if their sound here is any indicator.

First thing that has to be said is that I am under no illusions about Black Mask's sound, they're not exactly breaking convention or pushing the innovation envelope. It's very feedbacky Entombed/Converge/Catheter influenced crusty-thrashy-core much like a lot of the recent Southern Lord catalog so if you're tired of that you're probably considering a pass on this one. I suggest you give this a shot despite your warranted cynicism. For me all that doesn't kill something as long as the material does what it should do and these guys can manifest some vicious hardcore that resides a bit on the dark and crusty side. I keep coming back to it.

The guitar tone is that thick chainsaw growl that Vorum, Magrudergrind, Black Breath, and early New Lows have adopted and it definitely amps up the simple break downs and hardcore rhythms to have greater impact. All of them strike with a lot of force. Lots of sharp feedback between songs and in fills and the vocals are what you might expect: pissed, rasped, and loud. Very much like YAITW which is hard not to love. Drums feel a little weak in the mix at times with all the noise (not the performance), while the bass is clear but not as chunky/weighty as say on a Protestant or Converge record; some minor shit that doesn't lessen my enjoyment overall.

Stand out tracks? Honestly they're all really good. "Bottom Feeder" and "Serpent" probably if I had to say followed by "Agony". The first one there is hugely memorable and catchy (like something ACxDC or Osk would do but a notch or two slower) with a giant final riff, the whole this is very tight and should be played loud. The opener "Serpent" has a similar finale that just cracks concrete, leading into "The Greys" which is fast and gnarled.

We get a slight change of pace in two songs: the closer "Loner" which is shaped slightly different then the rest of the tracks, littered with bends and a thick oldschool groove. And then the only break in the hardcore gallop in the form of "Death
Unfolds", a static and feedback-laden semi-doomy instrumental flowing through a
lone, crawling bass line for the first minute only to evolve into a nice
slow buzzing procession.

This is one of those records that is just simply enjoyable, something that if you cranked your tubes and started jamming to you would get a great deal of enjoyment out of; I've done that few times. No real weak spots as the focus is clearly on aggressive, short, noisy, and catchy blasts and while it's hard to fuck that up it's also hard to make it interesting anymore. Black Mask do it for me an laugh in the face of a saturated scene.

Brutal, loud, jagged hardcore that I slept on. Recommended to those of you who like Converge, All Pigs Must Die, Young And In The Way, Baptists, Magrudergrind, Black Breath, etc. you'll appreciate this. I guess if you are the cynical type you can at least rest easy knowing black metal is left out of the mix. Plus it's less than 10 minutes long so they won't wast much of your time.

If you want it you can grab it for $3 on bandcamp or for a physical copy check out Get This Right Records for the 7" version. Follow them on facebook for more info on tours and upcoming material.

Sacrificial Totem is or was a project that I've been aware of for a few years now but was never able to find a link or physical copies to any of his releases, so I just gave up looking for a while. There's a few reasons for the lack of availability: one being that they were limited runs under 100 hand made (often under 50) and most of the rare links that were up were torched in the whole shutdown waves a little while back.

Another reason has to do with the activities the sole member "Exile" was involved in. Apparently the ethic and ideology of atavistic environmentalism shrouding Sacrificial Totem was no gimmick, from the label's 2012 newsletter update:

"The project ceased to exist in early 2006 when the sole creator behind Sacrificial Totem, Exile, was arrested, having been betrayed by former co-conspirators, as part of the FBI's "Operation Backfire" for his involvement in eco-sabotage arsons attributed to the "ELF". After serving over six years in federal prison, he was released earlier this year."

So yeah, I don't know how much is true but it appears the guy was serious. The update explains that the already limited presses of all Sacrificial Totem albums became even more rare after most were lost, stolen or destroyed in the aftermath of a studio raid. It wasn't until recently I stumbled upon a few obscure links to the records as well as some tracks up on soundcloud which renewed my interest in this hidden creature of the cascadian sprawl.

On to the actual music already! Sacrificial Totem is entirely instrumental and 95% electronic. Their sound is described by other reviewers (and the one label it was a part of) as shamanic/atavist ritual dark ambient or "dark ritual eletronics", but you'd be safe calling it cascadian-themed dark ambient/drone with some industrial or noise clouding the two. With this kind of description you'd expect it could be either an unlistenable clusterfuck or a monotonous and boring sulk but I'm quite happy to argue that the rituals on Hurqalya are executed exceedingly well, escaping both categories and are in fact engaging.

I'd describe the sound and structure as Fauna if injected with death industrial attitude, some horror atmospherics and creeping grit. The ceremonial cascadian ethos and atmosphere however is preserved and remains a subtle thread running throughout each track but distinguished from the north american black metal interpretation of this style; always refreshing and welcome thing I say.

Despite the nature of the tools in use the soundscape woven over this record does take on a very organic, somber, earthen tone only mired in a ancient horror. As if you were trespassing deeper into a tangled and ancient forest, the sounds on Hurqalyya to me seem more like vibes from hostile and feral wilderness on the cusp of dusk. It never becomes too loud while remaining intimidating and very clear.

Repeating, cycling whirring noise, synths (or more likely an MPC), metallic instruments, pedals and samples — oscillating humming, declining then erupting only to decay and be repurposed. The huge orbit of the builds here and their raw, undulating nature make the ritual part of all this is very clear. Each track bleeds into the next forming a massive and oppressive series of ceremonial waves or chapters, reinforcing the spellbinding quality of Sacrificial Totem exponentially.

Simply marked in roman numerals each 'ritual' while connected is distinct, relying on repetition and growth within those cycles to reach enormous peaks. The first one from the outset is a warbled moan that has a very ominous presence. The deviations from this come halfway through, interruptions in the form of hazy, digitized bell-like notes that send the bends into the background temporarily. Eventually this transforms into an entirely different entity, more horrific, a clear revolving hum regulating the trance beset upon you by the shifting static and pitches; a wall of synth gathering behind everything. The descent is so gradual you barely realize it's happening as the tone becomes subdued and contemplative.

This first ritual is far more of a shamanic or transcendental atmosphere then some later rituals which bare a heavier cascadian tone. Other moments continue that meditative, very dreamy feeling such as the rising pulses halfway through "II" where the flow and static state of this section reminds me of The Angelic Process or Wreck And Reference when at rest, just following a track. The second ritual is far more placid compared to the previous one,
disturbed at first only by looped samples of what sounds like a heavily
delay/reverb swamped clean riff, chimes, clacking metal and wood.

Tones rise coloured by sharp echoes and the pulses build in the cavernous atmosphere coming together once again extraordinarily well. Everything begins to fall into it's place and not long after that there's a change. Actually this track has a good section where you get a feel for the type of evolution the sounds and rhythms go through on some of Exile's work. At around the 11 minute mark this build begins amongst ringing clanging bells (like a warning) and distant industrial quakes, and eventually ruptures with a very mid-east flavored tribal bass beat; it's soft and works well in the ritualistic haze that has been constructed thus far.

Sacrificial Totem does this well, almost bordering on some kind of Clams
Casino-esque "cloud rap" atmospherics but never reaching a crossover that drastic. It melts away before "III" begins and wipes the slate, a track that uses the first 10 minutes to construct a rising wall of spectral static. It is oceanic and as the build hits its first incline we again hear the
use of cold Wreck And Reference MPC tones, sustained and rising with the
rumble and skips in the background. A satisfying example of their sound's beastial progression. Eventually the sound is twisted to a breaking point and then dropped to near silence, only to be brought back but stripped bare as a bleating hum. Like a horn being blasted intermittently. as soft keys drift around each wail. This is a great section of the track and leaves you ready "IV", it's serious and eerie and a little relaxing at the same time.

Now I haven't sat through all his records yet so I don't have a grasp on how much his sound changes between records, but Hurqalya has that strange property of residing in a very inaccessible genre yet producing material that I find easy to be immersed in. The final track "IV" is the first material I heard from Sacrificial Totem and the one ritual that drew me in much quicker than I thought possible with this genre. Have a listen:

The final track is certainly the most captivating part of Hurqalya for me ("III" is quite close I must say). It's much like a shamanic ritual being performed in an increasingly violent electrical storm, weathering it through ceremonial worship. It's pretty much split in almost four equal segments of which all are crushing: the first half leads in with mesmerizing electrical pulses and an occilating hum that sets the rhythm into hypnosis mode (much like a section found in track two). It's gripping.

Just as ingredients are added and things are becoming crowded this gives way to a calm like passing into the eye, as you near the edges the raging calamity can be heard in the periphery. The rhythm left by the last section carries on but through a different filter, punctuated with piercing industrial shocks and a build in pulses of drowned shamanic chant-like harmonies. Any of you remember the fire temple in LOZ:OOT, the whole banned islamic chant deal? That's kind of the tone this sample gives off but more ominous, far slower and buried. By the 12 minute mark it is an all consuming trance of collapsing distortion and looping darkness, pulling you under over and over.

It is a gradual decay from there as we enter a third phase. The ritual synth morphs and the crackling, muffled throbs grow slower and more erratic as it's choked right to the end of the track, grinding painfully with each rotation like a boulder being ground into a mountainside. It becomes more cohesive by that point, spiking and groaning loudly before fading into a final dark acoustic melody over minor percussion which abruptly ends.

Sacrificial Totem bring something interesting and worthy of listening to for those who are adventurous, or enjoy something deeply ritualistic with a serious ideology behind it that manages to break a few crutches. It's a steep one to work up to what with the track lengths and comparative minimalistic approach to what I usually post. Don't let the pretentious sounding eco-centric, ritual dark ambient dominant nature of this project foul your impression of it before hearing it. The amalgamation of genres here obviously creates a decent bar for entry immediately but the intoxicating ancient whirl buttressed by old growth rot should be given a chance. Sacrificial Totem steers this intense instrumental vortex expertly.

Those of you who enjoy power electronics like Blue Sabbath Black Cheer, strange heavy stuff like the Body or Terra Tenabrosa, ambient shit like Final or Lustmord, or blackened ambience like Fauna might want to check this out. If you like what you hear then I dunno. These are virtually impossible to find in physical form, however the newsletter Katabatik sent out mentioned having found a few copies of the first and last record in storage. The price is pretty steep and if you want to inquire email them. I have no idea if there are any left.

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Finally got a hold of this: compilation of all Osks' material up to 2010, including the spits I have. It's a wicked collection that represents the band as well any full length would. Wretched Existence /// Bleak Future should have made it onto my year end list in at least the underrated section if not on the main list even if it isn't new material. Actually I just recently realized that Cvlt Nation gave them some attention right around the time I was still checking out records for my Canada article

What's great is it is absolutely about trampling you but the shifts in pace and ideas is very frequent and swift which keeps things very fresh without leaving the fundamentals. All of it is smart and very much worth your time, in this case just over 20 minutes. You can spare it for Osk especially if you're as late on this as I am. This is well worth the small amount of cash and they sell it cheaper live too. This mangled patch of grind is laid out as follows...

The first 13 tracks are all from their early Canadian grind-powerviolence colaborations which I've mentioned before. This is where two of my original favorites reside ("Endless Repent" and "Arm Yourself") though really Osk are not a grind band that mess with filler as far as I can tell, and manage to keep their grind chops varied. For example "It All Means Nothing" reeks of Mudlark with the slow swing of the rhythms, or "Empty White Box" which starts out sounding like something Adversarial might cook up but then shifts back into the grind ebb ("Blank Page" does this too), and "Giving Up" which has a GridLink/Sleep Terror quality to it in terms of it's urgency and intensity of the abrupt riffs/blasts.

This leads into the deadly line up of "Endless Repent", "Knowingly Ignorant", "Arm Yourself", and "Beyond Control" which are some of the more memorable tracks they've put out. "Assume" is an addictive 40 second thrash attack with a minute amount of dissonance. You get the idea: everything on these splits is loud and finely tuned for scorching earth. A few I heard a few weeks back when they opened for Iron Lung.

Tracks 14-16 From Split w/ The Afternoon Gentlemen

One of the tracks from this split I had heard ("Mouth Pollution") but the rest I couldn't find. Now that I have WE/BF that's been remedied, and the three tracks here continue to show Osk's merciless grind assault in a very good light. "Stranded At Sea" stands out the most for me because like "Empty White Box" (but even more pronounced and focused) the specter of death metal grabs hold for a few seconds to great effect. It's really cool to hear some of that influence surface more purely before being mixed into the grind chaos, it's impressive and something that I really like. "Stranded At Sea" is quickly moving up my list of favorites from them, the mixture and positioning of the styles and the strength of the material that filters through them is tremendous; all in one minute. "Walking Asleep" is also worthy of a mention: the aggression will erode your skull like an eraser on paper and then the grooves that follow make it all the more sweet.

(If you want to hear/download The Afternoon Gentlemen's side of this split they have it up for free on bandcamp)

Tracks 17-20 Previously Unreleased

Several of these (17 and 18) I had heard prior to this but I suppose they are officially the unreleased songs. Not overly remarkable compared to some other tracks here, but the ruthless approach has not lessened and there are a few excellent moments in the long tracks. "Lie Thru Yer Teeth" is one example especially from the mid-point onward where it turns into stoner sludge almost, and "Creeper" slows things down a way further. Osk certainly can shred 30 seconds in pro fashion but they can do an equal amount of damage in longer stretches without fighting to hold your attention.

Track 21 From Intellect Comp.
Track 22 From CYCL 2 Comp.

The final tracks are from other compilations I've never heard of, and one track here "Gobs From Reno" I heard live when they closed their set with it. It's a real nice song hampered a little by the production here. "Earwig" is another exercise in compression in under 30 seconds, slashing through powerviolence territory with razor riffs and a small amount of chunk.

Again I recommend grind fans check these guys out. You can buy this from Scream//Writhe, To Live A Lie Records, and probably a few other hardcore/punk/metal distros out there so check around.

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Apparently I missed this last year as well. Who Are Willing To Draw Close is something I came across by accident and I think it's pretty sweet. I'm sure the combination of genres will pissoff a few people out there and normally I'm a little wary of such mixtures these days, but like I said this turns out to be very enjoyable. Containing only four tracks Old Soul's second album should have got a little more attention.

Five guys from Mount Pleasant that are experimenting and coming up with some sounds worthy of your time. Both of Old Soul's present releases are short and sweet, realistically EPs but the content is pretty sweet. I would describe their compelling style as Celeste channeling Darkest Hour through a haze of post-rock and black metal; maybe Alcest, Krallice or Wildernessking. Actually Dweller On The Threshold are doing a similar thing but in a more folk Do Make Say Think kind of direction.

Right from the opener "Crater" you know this is as least going to be a little different. The clean bends in the beginning of this track remind me of a few moments from Skagos' "Colossal Spell" or Godspeed You! Black Emperor's work. It takes a almost mid-east tone before erupting into chaotic blackened distortion, swirling and slowly breaking down and tangling with Celese-like dark hardcore until the finally volley — mellifluous and aggressive, suddenly post-hardcore is thick in the air. It combines with the black metal to make an almost Alcest beauty flowing in the twinkling black haze. They don't rest on this for long though and break into the next track quickly.

Who Are Willing To Draw Close by Old Soul
This is the pattern that gets put through some creative paces within
the next three tracks, feeling legitimate and never staying longer than
wanted in its experimentation. 'Twin" goes from wailing black tones to a
more playful progressive chord section and back again. Amongst this strange mixture organs and children spoken word samples
("Forest" and "Tundra") weave their way comfortably enough into some
tracks. avoiding cheese nicely. "Forest" is the one track that feels very much on the post-hardcore side of the tracks for the first two minutes
before the climax which is a massive but quick blackened explosion,
repeating only once near the end after a particularly melodic clean
build.

All the tracks have this undercurrent of placid sadness that works its way out in the clean moments, "Tundra"'s intro
for example. That track is another where the screamo/post-rock
influences reign, and the bass is far more showcased (though the
production doesn't cover it up elsewhere).

I think the record could be a
little louder and maybe longer but not by much on that last part. Song
lengths here are perfect and offer great variation without stumbling. The spoken samples don't feel necessary but they really don't derail the music either. The vocalist hits perfect shredding rasps and at times lets them bleed
into anguished cries, percussion and bass/guitar work is complex and
with purpose — there's no wankery or needless busyness and that goes for
the ambient/post-rock elements too. If anything there's more to be explored here and hopefully they push it further with the following record.

Recommended especially if you like Celeste or some of what Dweller On The Threshold was fucking around with. If you want a taste go to their soundcloud page, and if you like it there's a couple of places you can get it from like Halo of Flies, Scream//Writhe, etc. or directly from them over at their blog where they have a download link to both records (here's a direct link to the store). They have bandcamp as well so you can download shit for free there as well.

The new record called "Tidal Lock" is coming soon as are shows I believe so check their facebook for updates on that stuff.

Friday, March 8, 2013

It's safe to assume you're all probably tired of the core being touted around here by now, especially if it's branded with a maple leaf, but bear with me for one more post before I try to diversify a little.

One of the reasons for me posting this, outside this being really good, is that there's virtually no digital presence of this great sludge infused grindcore act and thus it's hard to get a taste of what they're dealing out. That's a shame because I managed to get a copy of this compilation recently, a rare and dusty version of their record release edition of Mudlark / A.D.H.D. — and I'm really enjoying it. I guess those dedicated and in the know of local grindcore scenes have been aware of these guys since 2006 but it's time I try to untuck Mudlark from the grime and write some words about what they've concocted.

Anyway Mudlark were a four piece once but the majority of their existence has been as a three piece, the members over the years being involved with Massgrave, Osk, and Scumbelly which makes a lot sense when you hear some of their tracks. The slower moments easily make the jump from this to some of Osk's slow-downs. I'm still uncertain as to their current status because I've heard they have splits that are in the works and also that they broke up a few years back (which would be a major shame). There's footage of them in 2010 but not much else in the 3 years since.

This elusive Vancouver mutant is draped in kaleidoscopic imagery of mines abandoned and collapsing, enclosing a sound that is one part grindcore or powerviolence and the other is vaguely sludge and doom. And when I was absorbing the music while admiring the art (both the above version, plus the original artwork much like the 7" below) it was easier to see some of the links in imagery, concept, and the sound/style: the quickness and finality of a mine shaft collapse, wood splintering and rock grinding on rock crushing bodies in an instant. An explosion that rips through metal tracks and bodies. The grind they make is very much on this side. Other times the mine traps you and slowly starves you of light and oxygen in cold, rough abyss. The sludge is here, calculated and crawling. The only problem is there are no lyrics but I have some suspicions based on the above.

Overall the resulting sound is arguably similar to Black Arrows of Filth And Impurity if the sludgey aspects were emphasized more. And Mudlark do enter comparable atmospheres, once or twice in shorter tracks like the wonderfully brutal "Old Black Wood" but two more surprising tracks experiment in this direction. First the six minute "Blood Movement" which grows slowly with intoxicating, meandering slams simultaneously from the cymbals and
guitar, mushrooming sporadically, climbing and falling — finally setting into a very comfortable rhythm. Hypnotic and heavy as fuck.

Then there's eight minute closer "Swamp College" is where you really hear the doom influence. It stretches with noise between trudging guitar blows, an entire section that sounds similar to a section in either a Weakling or Dispirit song; picking up and becoming more martial with some added angularity by the end. It's enormous and hard not to enjoy if you love weighty riffs. As it progresses Mudlark create a very enjoyable drone I think. Both of these longer songs are similar to the chaotic final tracks on "1984 (Eternal)" but with more structure, and leading to a more recognizable place.

Unlike the previously mentioned monsters of this record which come clean with the slowness up front, sometimes Mudlark disguise the beginning of a track as chaotic which leads one to believe more mincing will be the focus — when suddenly the e-brake is pulled and you're suffocating again. So just when you're into the mincing groove they will snap you back
with a huge dirge.

They're very good at doing this. "A.D.H.D" is a great opener and shows the above formula off perfectly. It might be one of my favorites and it blends smoothly with the following track "Napalm" which is gripping too, thrashing for a good portion of
the track before slowing to a drag. "Face Your Hate" and "Lie To Speak" take the opposite approach and are no less intense or absorbing and "Frank Slide" is a crusher with real ugly vocals. "Gross Shitty Mess" (all slow) and "Agravated Brain" mix the flailing fury with the drudgery similarly in a very short span of time. They make it a varied experience without lessening the ferocity at all. "Agravated Brain" is a memorable track too for being a particularly harsh bludgeoning.

The discernible grind influences they play with range from Norwegian
Gadget style with very clear North American Insect Warfare
contamination making for a very gritty and thick sandblasting when
they're at full speed. Tracks like "Crematorium
Grinder", "Klunk", "Rapid Mangulation" (frantic and amazing song that borders on death metal), and "Kunumdrum" (a burst of "Swamp College") which all stand alone as malicious
whirlwind grind without contamination from the slower styles. Blazing riff conniptions ending with feedback usually.

And then we have the self-titled 7" record hat came with the main LP. It has four extra tracks to add to the pile of disorienting grind though not necessarily anything to go bat-shit about: "Told How To Live" and track three are minute long hammerings while "High" and "Carolyn's Catalog" take a more slow and groovy approach. I prefer the longer tracks on this one but nothing here is bad by any means.

The production is damn nice across both records for a small band, the bass and vocals stand out between the chaos of the percussion and guitars. No plastic feel, there's still plenty of grit and rawness and weight behind each jagged sound. Speaking of vocals they' re as you would expect: raspy, sometimes pained screams and disgusted roars from multiple members. Nothing feels out of place there. Overall what I really like about Mudlark (outside of the local bias) is they seem to be lurking and altering the dark and ugly path that defunct Black Arrows of Filth And Impurity took, and I'm always looking for bands that do this. Dephosphorus and A Scanner Darkly come close as do Crowpath sometimes. Mudlark flip the switch cleanly and churn out gold on both fronts.

So you're lucky if you've been searching for this and manage to catch the link before it gets taken down because I took the time to rip both the LP and the 7". If you like it I encourage you to head over to Schizophrenic Records and ask if they have copies available, or Give Praise Records who have a few copies I believe (also having a massive LP sale). Or if you're in Vancouver the Zoo Shop has the standard version of the record release edition for $40 I believe. Fans of the above mentioned bands plus stuff like GridLink and Discordance Axis will enjoy the hell out of this.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Well technically two-ish of grind, powerviolence and rain followed by one of vagrants, cold wind and punk. It's a very uncreative title.

I recently got back from Vancouver and a few nights of local live shows: Baptists’ Album Release show at the Biltmore Cabaret, followed by Iron Lung/Column of Heaven/Osk/Koszmar/Cooked And Eaten in the back of Zoo Shop records, and then a kick of show in a photo gallery in a bad part of town for White Lung’s tour. This will be a quick one followed by a few posts with actual substance and content so don’t fret as I have plans.

It’s been a while since I’ve been in Vancouver longer than a transfer between flights so I did take a chance to try the New Amsterdam Cafe finally and I also was re-acclimated to the notorious presence of the underclass on west Hastings. Both of these things were interesting as was checking out venues I had not been to. All of this was amidst the pineapple express (awful term, sorry) we were going through on the coast so constant mild rain made everything a little more uncomfortably damp than you'd like.